The Hunted
by The Blue Heron
Summary: Marya, another Pusher, meets up with Cassie, Nick, and Kira a while after Push. But does the addition of Marya to the group put them in even more danger? ON HIATUS atm.
1. Evasion

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Push or Summit Entertainment. I just like the movie. :)**

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**Evasion**

My name is Marya. I am a Pusher, and I am on the run. I have been my whole life. It was only just recently, however, that my reason for running changed. I am different – I always have been. For that I have been hunted.

I am second generation. It was my mother who had Push before me. She married a man without powers, but somehow I still ended up with her gift…or curse. She had lived in hiding ever since she had discovered that she was different. By then she had already married my father. Only a few months after I was born, Division found our family. They killed my father, and my mother and I barely escaped with our lives.

That was the beginning of it all. I have known no other life, other than to run and hide and, above all, trust no one.

Not surprisingly, Division caught up with us. I had only just discovered that I had inherited my mother's power and did not yet know how to control it. And then it was too late. Two agents came to our run-down, low-profile apartment. At least, they were the only ones we could see. We knew that others would be there, too, waiting.

I panicked as soon as I heard their knock, but my mother remained calm, at least outwardly.

"Marya," she told me, "you must go. I hate to leave you on your own, but what must happen must happen." She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry," she whispered, and knelt down and hugged me.

The knocking grew more persistent, and my mother let go of me and pushed me toward the window.

"Quickly!" she cried. "Remember this, if nothing else. Never use your power for evil, Marya. Please. I'm so proud of you." She kissed me on the forehead and looked at me for one long, last moment before I scrambled out the window.

The next thing I knew, multiple shots were fired, and I heard my mother's body thud to the floor. I ran.

That was years ago, I don't even want to know how many. The memory of that night has always stayed with me. I always wondered how the Division agents killed her so quickly. She didn't even seem to try. She didn't even tell me where to go before she died. I just ran aimlessly. I still don't remember where I went, or what happened. The next few months are a blur.

I remember the first day that I killed someone. No, I did not pull the trigger myself, at least not directly. Instead, I inserted the thought into the man's head. Like I said, I did not know how to harness my power and the results surprised me. It was then that I realized that I could survive, no matter what. I could mess with people's minds.

Time and time again, the same sort of thing happened. Sometimes it was a particularly weak Division agent, when occasionally they came across me. Sometimes it was someone who I felt endangered me – I lived in a rough part of town on my own. Sometimes I would just use my ability to steal so that I could eat. I knew no other life.

One day, though, I ran into trouble. A Division agent caught me unawares. He was a Pusher, like me. I could sense him trying to invade my mind. It didn't work. His eyes widened in alarm as my pupils dilated to the point where my eyes were completely black. I put the thought into his head to go, cross the street, that the car coming wouldn't hit him, but he had started leaving before I could complete the order. He escaped.

It was then that I realized something. When I was looking into his mind, I found something I hadn't expected. He was shocked that I could protect my mind. My mother had taught me to before she was killed, and I had always sort of assumed that everyone could do that. Apparently not.

By the next day, I had learned that Division was looking for me. As in, actively searching for me. I knew that once they started hunting me they would never stop. That is what happened with my mother. The only reason they hadn't started looking for me then was because they didn't realize that I had my mother's power.

It was soon after this that I found the others. "The others" being other people hunted by Division. I had always known that they existed, but it was only now that I discovered that they were practically right on my very doorstep. Quite literally, actually. I ran into them unexpectedly.

My life took on a whole other direction. Again.

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	2. Others

**Others**

There was a loud knocking on my door. I started out of my sleep, with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

"This can't be happening," I thought.

The knocking stopped. Slowly I got up and carefully made my way to the window and peered out between the shades. To my surprise, a small girl with long blond hair with pink streaks was standing outside. She held a booklet of black paper and a pencil in her hands. She seemed to be doodling.

Cautiously, I opened the door and stepped out of the way as the girl breezed into my place. I shut the door, if only to keep any Division agents from discovering me. Unless this girl was with them, in which case they already had.

"Who are you?" I turned and asked the girl, who was now rummaging through my refrigerator.

"I'm Cassie. Do you have anything to drink?" she asked matter-of-factly.

"Sure, there's some juice if you want it, or milk," I answered, confused.

"No, I mean, something stronger."

"You expect me to give you alcohol," I stated disbelievingly. "Really? How old are you? Twelve?"

"I'm thirteen!" she snapped defensively. "And I need it! Why do people always mistake me for younger than I am?" She sounded frustrated.

"I know the feeling," I sighed. "And no, you don't need it."

Suddenly there was another knock on my door.

"Uh oh," the strange girl said. "Is there any other way out of here?"

"You're not leaving," I said firmly, and went over to the door, hoping it wasn't Division this time. I opened it to find two more people standing outside. One was a man, rather scruffy, and the other was a woman, whom I could immediately tell was a Pusher, same as me.

I stepped out of the way again as the man pushed past me.

"Where have you been?" he asked the girl.

"I was just…" she protested.

"…looking for alcohol again," he finished, reaching into her bag, which she had thrown onto the table and drawing out a bottle of something. "Cassie, what did I tell you, I'm not letting you drink. I don't care if your mother did it." He turned to me. "Sorry," he said, grabbing onto her arm. "My little sister, here, she has a drinking problem, and, yeah." He laughed and headed toward the door. The dark-haired Pusher followed him, watching me all the while. I could tell what she was trying to imprint into my mind as her pupils widened, and I stared at her, unperturbed.

"Oh no you don't," I thought, and said aloud, "I don't think so."

The man stopped, and Cassie jerked her arm free. I stalked over to the door and pushed it shut.

"I know what you are," I bluffed. Well, at least it was partly true. "You're different, too."

Cassie rolled her eyes, and the other two tensed.

"No kidding," she muttered. Seeing that the other two were distracted, she retrieved the bottle, only to have the man absently take it back from her again. "Nick!" she complained.

"I already told you, no drinking. Yeah, we're 'different,' too," he addressed me. The Pusher eyed me warily, and I could sense her trying to Push me again.

"You can stop doing that," I told her scornfully. "It's not going to work."

For a second she looked taken aback, but then she glared at me.

"You're a Pusher," I stated. "And I don't know what you other two are, but whatever power you have, don't try it on me."

"This is Nick and Kira," Cassie introduced the newcomers. "Nick here is a stick-in-the-mud."

"Why, because he won't let you drink? I wouldn't either if I were your older sibling."

"He's not my older brother!" she protested.

"He is now," I told her. "The way he looks out for you? Yeah, he's your big brother. Besides, he said so himself." I smirked.

"Okay, okay," Kira interrupted. Both Cassie and I turned to look at her. "We've got more important things to do right now."

"Yeah, like discuss what powers you have," I agreed pleasantly. She glared at me again.

Cassie spoke up again. "I'm a Watcher, and Nick's a Mover."

"Right," I said. "Good to know."

"Why can't I Push you?" Kira asked, disgruntled.

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently.

"She should be able to Push you," Nick said. "Pushers aren't immune to each other."

"You can stop pretending now," Cassie said. She moved back over to the refrigerator. Nick looked at her warningly. "I'm not looking for anything to drink!" she continued, exasperated.

"All right, I'm not 'immune to other Pushers,' as you put it," I admitted. "but I'm not going to tell you how I do it. I don't trust you, to be honest."

"Wise choice," Kira said coolly.

I raised my eyebrows. "I rest my case."

Suddenly Cassie stopped rummaging through my food and held her head in her hands as though she had a migraine.

"Cassie, what is it, what do you see?" Nick asked.

She looked up. "They're coming."

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	3. Escape

**Escape**

"We've got to get out of here. Without her," Kira responded immediately and nodded towards me.

"We're not leaving her for Division," Nick said firmly. "Come on." He headed toward the front door.

"Not that way." I rushed to the back of the apartment.

"Another way out?" Cassie asked as she followed me.

"Yep," I replied, and started pulling back a section of the carpet to reveal what to the unsuspecting eye would look like loose floorboards. In reality, it was a trap door.

Seeing that Cassie and I were not with them, Kira and Nick had stopped and followed us. Quickly I opened the "door" and beckoned them inside. The three dropped down into the cramped tunnel below.

"Come on!" Nick said again. I heard a pounding on my front door. Nick Moved it to lock.

"You're going to have to go without me," I said, leaning down over the hole. "I'll cover your tracks."

"He's not going to leave you, so hurry up!" Kira snapped.

Cassie started holding her head again. "You've got to come with us," she ordered.

"This is stupid," Nick muttered. Next thing I knew, he had Moved me down to join them and shut the door above us. I could hear the rug Move back into place over it.

"So. Which way do we go?" he asked.

"This way," I said, frustrated, and started off down the tunnel to the left. The others followed. Cassie caught up with me.

"You had to come," she told me matter-of-factly. "When you decided not to, the future changed. It's a good thing Nick Moved you when he did."

I was seething inwardly.

"Now it's going to be easier to find us, don't you see?" I hissed. "I would have been able to hold them off, at least for a while."

"Sure you would have, for a while." She glanced over to see my reaction and continued. "But not for long. They had a Bleeder, and the new head of Division. He's a really strong Pusher, stronger than you. Even if you can…"

"I'm not going to explain myself to a thirteen year old," I interrupted.

She shrugged. "I don't want you to. I just know that you overestimate your abilities." She pushed on ahead, and I walked on alone for a moment before Nick fell into step with me.

"So," he said casually, "how come Kira couldn't Push you?"

"That would be telling, wouldn't it," I said flatly. I was definitely not in the mood to talk to anyone after what Cassie had said.

"I'm just curious," he said.

"I'm sure," I answered, "but you might tell your girlfriend and I really don't want her blocking me out."

"Why?"

"I don't trust her, she doesn't trust me. It's pretty simple."

"She doesn't trust you because she can't Push you," he explained.

"Because I'm more powerful than she is, you mean." I heard a faint snort from Cassie up ahead and ignored it. "And, to be fair, I suppose I can't blame her. For all you now, I could be with Division." I sped up only to run into Cassie, who was drawing furiously.

She finished and wordlessly gave the picture to Nick. He sighed and handed it back before Kira or I could get a glimpse of it.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" I asked as Kira said simultaneously, "Was it Division?"

I closed my eyes and reached back with my mind to see if there were any other consciousnesses than those belonging to our little party. There weren't. I sighed and opened my eyes to find the other three watching me warily. Well, Nick and Kira looked wary. Cassie, as usual, seemed bored by their reaction.

"I told you," she said under her breath in a sing-song voice and leaned against the wall to wait for us to start moving again. We didn't. All of us stayed still.

Finally, Kira spoke. "Who are you? And what did you just do?" She turned to Nick furiously. "We're following her because you insisted that she come along, and we don't even know her name!"

Nick settled against the wall next to Cassie. Kira joined him, and they all stared at me.

"My name is Marya," I said. "And just to let you know, no one's following us. Yet. They don't know where we went, so they're on their way to get a Sniffer. There was a Bleeder and a Pusher, but no Watcher. Amateurs!" I spat. "If they were with Division, they did not know what they were doing. Yeah, and Cassie," I continued, "the Pusher was not the head of Division."

"Whatever. I wasn't counting on you checking."

Nick crossed his arms. "And how do you know all this?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know, let me think. Because I'm a Pusher?" I replied sarcastically.

"Pushers have to have eye contact to get into someone else's mind," Kira stated. "I should know."

"Well, I don't. Have to have eye contact, I mean. How am I supposed to know why? That's just how it is!" I was getting frustrated again.

"And how come I can't Push you?" Kira pressed.

"Because…you can't? And no matter how hard you try, you won't be able to. And I'm definitely not telling you how I block you out. At least not yet."

"Could I block someone out if I wanted to?" she asked slightly more calmly.

"I don't know. Maybe. To be honest, it was only a little while ago that I found out that not everyone could, or at least it wasn't common knowledge that it was possible. But maybe that's the way Division wanted it."

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**Sorry, I know the ending is kind of abrupt. Please review and thanks for reading! :)**


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